Chapter 4

Neither Sam nor Dean had made any sort of eye contact in the last few hours. The sun had gone down a couple minutes ago, but no one seemed to notice as they kept busy doing research with just as much steam as they had hours ago.

Bobby was in the kitchen on the phone with an old friend of his trying to see if his friend could get them any sort of information about The Beast of Bray Road; the old white corded phones spiraled wire wrapping around his knees.

Dean sat at Bobby's desk in his library skimming through an old looking book with pages yellowing from age, about legends and myths. He had found something about The Beast, but it seemed pretty vague.

Sam sat in a pretty uncomfortable wooden chair with his laptop propped neatly on his lap as his eyes scanned the site he was currently on half-heartedly. Needless to say, he hadn't found anything new either.

Everything they did find was all pretty much the same. Basically all it said was that in some parts of Wisconsin, people reported seeing a Beast that stood on two legs, but had a wolf's head and was covered in fur. The sightings were pretty accurate, Dean had to admit. Almost all of the people who reported seeing the creature described it in the same way…which was pretty close.

But that didn't help them when they were looking more in depth. They needed to know about the witch that cursed the man. They needed her name, they needed his name…they needed to know the specifics of the curse. Would it change Sam, like Bobby feared?

Deep down, Sam really did believe so. How else could he possibly explain the thing that whispered things to him in a deep corner of his mind. It started to scare him a little though when he thought about it. He the wild presence inside him grow stronger slowly, but steadily.

He was too scared to tell Dean and Bobby though. He was afraid of what they would think of him.

At that moment, there was the sound of a loud 'click' as Bobby hung up the phone in the kitchen. He cursed as he untangled himself from the cord around his knees and in moments he was walking into the library with a sheet of paper clutched in his hand.

Dean looked up from the book curiously and looked at Bobby.

"What's going on, Bobby?" Dean asked hopefully.

"Just got off the phone with an old friend," Bobby informed as he held up the piece of paper in his hand with his handwriting on it, "he gave me a list of names of women in that area of Wisconsin that were alive in that era. He's sure that one of 'em is our witch."

"Well that's something." Dean muttered sarcastically with an eye-roll.

"I know," Bobby agreed, "but at least it's a start."

"Bobby these women lived years ago. How are we gonna do background checks? There's probably no way in hell there's even records of some of these people." Sam interjected sounding slightly irritated.

"True," Bobby agreed, "but according to legend, the witch made a deal with a demon…so I'm sure it'd be documented which of these women were mauled to death."

"Yeah, but a lot of people got mauled to death around that time because of her husband." Dean cut in.

"I know that, boy." Bobby said with an eye-roll, "But it'll narrow the list down at least."

"How many names are on the list?" Sam wondered out loud.

"Seventy two." Bobby replied flatly.

"That's really not that many." Sam noted slightly taken aback.

"This was a different time, boy." Bobby said with a humorless chuckle, "Disease was big, and there medicine wasn't as advanced."

Sam knew this of course, but didn't say anything. He only nodded before Bobby handed him the paper. Sam took it albeit hesitantly, but once in his hands he scanned his eyes over the names silently before turning back to his laptop. Maybe something would pop up on the internet about any of the women…though he doubted it.

"I've also gotten Ellen, Jo, and Ash looking for answers." Bobby added as he turned and headed toward the chair in the corner of the room and took a seat.

"Do they know about me?" Sam asked trying to hide his rising anger.

The less people who knew about this the better. He wasn't some sideshow freak to be gawked at, and he didn't appreciate being treated as such.

"No," Bobby replied honestly, "but they're not stupid. They're gonna want to know why they're looking into this…Sam they can be trusted."

And he knew that, Sam thought to himself. But at the moment, reason seemed lost to him as the foreign being in his mind pawed its way to the surface.

And then suddenly he wanted to know what Bobby's insides would taste like. He wanted it more than anything…his mouth watered at the sheer thought of it, but he held himself back. He couldn't kill Bobby.

The wild presence in his mind howled in defeat, but remained hopful…it was growing stronger. It knew it, and Sam knew it.

And Sam knew it wouldn't be long before the thing took him over completely…then he wouldn't be able to hold himself back.

Oblivious to the mental struggle, Dean and Bobby both held their breath before waiting to see Sam's response.

He persed his lips, and a thin layer of sweat shone on his brow, but he seemed deep in thought with a far off look in his eyes. Was he pondering whether or not Ellen, Jo, and Ash could be trusted? Bobby and Dean had to wonder.

A moment later, Sam blinked and then nodded feverishly.

"You alright?" Dean asked Sam worriedly.

"N-no." Sam replied honestly, his voice raspy as if he were sick.

This was gonna happen again, Sam knew. The thing that was in his mind now was going to continue to fight him for control, and he feared for the people who would get caught in the crossfire when he lost. When he lost.

He knew he had to tell Dean and Bobby about it. He didn't want to…he really didn't want to. But if he wanted any chance of surviving this, Bobby and Dean needed to know as much as he did. That thought made the thing in his mind angry, it didn't want the others to be aware of it.

Sam looked down at his hands shakily, and nearly cried at how wrong they looked. He then balled them into a fist in an attempt to hide their latest development…he would tell Dean about that too, but first thing's first.

Sam swallowed hard as he thought of a way to tell Dean and Bobby about this thing without him sounding completely insane.

"What's wrong?" Dean asked him curiously.

Sam inhaled deeply, and shut his laptop with a light nudge from his fist so there were no distractions. He averted his eyes to the floor, making sure he couldn't see his brothers reaction.

"E-ever since I woke up…I-I dunno, I've just felt different." Sam began with a guilty expression on his face. It was hard for him to go on, but he had to.

"Different how?" Bobby asked patiently.

"It's hard to explain…so just bear with me." Sam warned with a humorless smile. Dean and Bobby nodded in unison, urging him to continue.

"I um…feel this sort of presence, or something in the back of my mind." Sam said a little sheepishly, "And it's only getting stronger and stronger."

"What do you mean by 'presence'?" Dean asked sounding a little skeptical.

"It's like…I'm not alone in my head anymore, Dean." Sam said in a broken whisper, "It's wild and completely untamed…sometimes it fights me for control…like just now."

"What just happened with you going off into La-La-Land?" Dean asked.

Sam nodded, still not looking Dean in the eye.

"But it's getting stronger." Sam added, "One day…I know I won't be able to fight it off anymore."

"So what are you saying?" Bobby asked, his breath hitching on the last word breaking off his question, letting it hang in the air on a pathetic note.

"I'm saying, I think you're right…about me changing." Sam replied in a whisper. Tears threatened to spill from his eyes, but he held them there. He refused to show how weak he felt.

"No." Dean said with a stern and disbelieving tone, "You can fight it."

"I can't." Sam replied shakily, "It's already started."

"What are you talkin' about?" Bobby asked curiously, his eyes still wide and his voice contained a certain heartbreak that pulled at Sam's heart-strings.

Sam then inhaled shakily and unballed his tight fists as he held his hands up so Dean and Bobby could get a good look.

Dean leaned in closer with wide-eyes and his mouth slightly agape as he kept his tear-filled eyes on his brothers' hands.

Bobby stared at them out of pure curiosity, but he was a well trained hunter. He his is torment very well.

Sam had noticed it when he had snapped out of his inner struggle with the thing in his head. It wasn't there before then though, Sam knew. He too kept his eyes on his own hands and saw where his normal, blunt fingernails once were; now held darker, thicker, only about an inch or so longer than they were, slightly curved, and sharp claws.

"Son of a…" Dean muttered, but trailed off angrily.

"We're running outta time." Bobby said solemnly.

"I can't fight this thing for very long." Sam announced as a tear finally slipped past his defenses and ran down his cheek, "It's gonna kill me."

"No." Dean said with an intense sterness that sent a cold shiver up Sam's spine, "I won't lose you."

"No Dean," Sam said between a light sob, "I'm screwed."

Hehe, I'm so mean to you guys. :)